It is no secret that employee benefit costs are rising. As an employer, we wonder what can be done to reduce costs and as an employee, we are curious if we are getting the best deal. Medical insurance costs are rising faster than many companies’ profit margins and outpacing inflation on a year-to-year basis.
Rising health care costs are eroding revenue unlike any other element within a business. Government regulations and rising premiums are also affecting cash flow which can impact all areas of business operations. Separating rhetoric and marketing from meaningful, impactful company-wide solutions is becoming increasingly difficult. However, as the paradigm shift of health care strategies gains momentum, sustainable solutions are becoming clearer.
There are evolving options with this new paradigm shift of health care strategies: traditional, direct contracting, reference-based pricing and bundled pricing. A strong market push for pricing transparency has created additional opportunities for employers to save money and control costs, and they are doing just that. Employers now have the ability to function much like the traditional PPO has historically functioned by negotiating directly with providers.
The traditional approach includes elements such as reinsurance, administration, PPO networks, pharmacy benefit managers, population health management, predictive modeling, multiple plan designs and wellness strategies.
Direct contracting is also a viable option because providers are much more willing to contract directly with employers than ever before. The idea is to establish a delivery and pricing contract that accomplishes two primary objectives:
1) An agreed-upon fee schedule for services performed that is less than typical insurance company PPO-contracted rates.
2) Incentive for participants to utilize contracted providers for the care needed.
The third option, reference-based pricing, allows employers to structure partial self-funding plans that reimburse a certain percentage of Medicare reimbursements levels for claims. PPO fee schedules can be
100-200 percent higher than these Medicare rates. As a result, the reimbursement plan can save employers a considerable amount. However, there is still a risk in balanced billing. The direct contracting option protects the employer with balanced billing issues that they would otherwise experience with reference-based pricing methodologies.
Bundled Pricing is rapidly evolving and creates a significant opportunity for employers to save money. Employers simply pay agree-upon cash pricing for surgeries performed on an outpatient basis, and in certain cases, an inpatient basis. The price includes all services including facility, surgeon, anesthesiology, pathology, radiology, etc.
Additionally, two strategies that are gaining attention around prescription costs are average script pricing and pass-through average sales price prescription pricing. Both offer employers opportunities to find significant claims savings.
Health care costs are rising, and with them, employee benefit costs. To learn more about strategies to reduce costs while staying competitive with benefits for your employees, contact PremierSource by visiting Premier-Source.com.
Todd Rolland is president of Summit Financial Group and CEO of PremierSource, a Summit Consolidated
Group Company. For more information, visit www.YourSummit.com.
https://www.benefitnews.com/news/healthcare-strategies-that-can-save-employers-money